Crescent Point Energy Corp. is buying privately held oil and gas producer CanEra Energy Corp. for about $750-million in cash and stock to expand its position in a Saskatchewan oil formation that is seen as a potentially large new source of supply.

Crescent Point said the acquisition, which extends a multibillion-dollar string of Canadian oil-industry deals this year, boosts its reserves in the Torquay formation - which lies beneath the prolific Bakken shale - and will prompt an increase in its production and cash-flow targets.The company is known for its light crude oil production in the Bakken in both Saskatchewan and North Dakota. Booming industry activity with the use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic rock fracturing has made North Dakota the second-largest oil-producing U.S. state.

Crescent Point chief executive Scott Saxberg said the Torquay, known as the Three Forks formation in the U.S., has been explored much less than the Bakken. The company announced a large Torquay discovery in an area called Flat Lake earlier this month.

“It’s basically a large producing zone now in North Dakota, and we’re following the trend from North Dakota up into Canada,” Mr. Saxberg said.

CanEra, run by veteran Calgary oil man Paul Charron, currently produces about 10,000 barrels of oil-equivalent a day. Assuming the deal closes next month as planned, Crescent Point expects production to average 133,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, up 5 per cent from its current forecast. Cash flow will increase by 6 per cent to $2.38-billion, it said.

Under the agreement, Crescent Point is offering 12.9 million of its shares and $192-million in cash for a total value of about $750-million, based on a Crescent Point share price of $44.50. It will also assume $348-million in debt.

Mr. Saxberg said Crescent Point had long eyed CanEra, and its interest grew with the development of the Torquay.

The deal will boost its net landholdings to 880 sections, which is the equivalent of about 288,000 hectares.

The company expects to spend $40-million to maintain production from the new assets in 2015. It had previously said it would spend $200-million this year developing its Flat Lake assets.

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